The Economist explains

How many people convert to Islam?

IN THE wake of the attacks on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, speculation has grown about the possible involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite, a British convert to Islam. Ms Lewthwaite, known as the “White Widow”, was married to Germaine Lindsay, one of the London 7/7 bombers and himself a convert. She is wanted by Interpol and the Kenyan police in connection with a separate alleged bomb plot. Ms Lewthwaite, the daughter of a British soldier who served in Northern Ireland, grew up in the English home counties and converted to Islam in her teens. How common are converts to Islam? And why do they adopt the religion?

Those who embrace Islam tend to do so after years of contact with Muslims. (Ms Lewthwaite reportedly had a close relationship with Muslim neighbours during her youth.) Some, mostly women who make up around two-thirds of new believers in Britain, convert because they want to marry a Muslim. Others are fed up with what they see as the bawdiness of British society. Many speak of seeking a sense of community. Prisons have proven fertile ground for conversions for men. Some worry that those who convert in jail are exposed to more radical strains of Islam; others say that Islam's discipline and structure, along with the support they received from other Muslims, helped them to cope with life inside.

Calculating convert numbers is tricky. The census in England and Wales does not ask people about their past religions. British mosques do not keep a central record of conversions. Some new believers keep their conversions secret, worried about the reactions of friends and family. But using census data on race and religion, and questionnaires issued to mosques, Kevin Brice, a researcher at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, calculated that around 5,200 Britons turn to Islam every year, and that the total number of converts is about 100,000. In America calculating conversion rates is even harder. The census does not ask about religion and few mosques keep registers of their members, so even the total number of American Muslims is uncertain, let alone that of converts. In 2007 the Pew Research Centre estimated that there were around 2.4m American Muslims; in 2000 President Bill Clinton made reference to a figure of 6m. Pew reckons that just under a quarter are converts, the majority of them African American.

Some worry that converts are more vulnerable than others to radical kinds of Islam because they know little about the religion's different traditions. That is not quite right, says Leon Moosavi, an expert on Islamic conversions at Liverpool University. The problem for converts is a lack of support, he argues. Some are abandoned by their families. They may not be accepted into mainstream mosques, many of which in Britain resemble ethnic clubs, he says. That isolation can make them vulnerable to extremists who hope that white converts will add credibility to their cause. But converts who turn to terrorism, as Ms Lewthwaite is suspected of doing, are rare. Indeed, the vast, peaceable majority may help to bridge the gap between Muslims and others. In Western countries the growth in converts is part of Islam’s transition from an immigrant religion to a home-grown one.

Islam, like all religions, being based on myths, has one of the cleverest means of keeping its followers faithful, above and beyond the typical bumpf, “if you don't believe in our version of God- you will go to hell - trust me”.

Firstly, you cannot leave Islam, or convert to another faith, and secondly, if your offspring do not believe in Allah, you go to hell.

So, having and IQ a little greater than that of an ashtray (and a naturally sceptical view of anything that pretends to have all the answers) I walked away from Christianity. Not only because I actually have a set of moral values founded on principles, but because so many people who call themselves Christians, especially in America, are anything but.

Now, my girlfriend used to be a Muslim, and like me, finds the whole concept of fictitious Gods and prophets somewhat baffling and more than hypocritical.

If I wanted to marry her, I should convert to Islam.

I have to admit, unless I suffer a serious brain injury, it is quite unlikely I will become a statistic that will end up in an article such as this.

It might have something to do with Muslims, including a surprising number of converts, continuing to carry out brutal terrorist attacks that deliberately kill innocent civilians, like the recent one in Kenya.

It's interesting to note that when the state of the world is considered, that if you cross out islam, it's actually a pretty peaceful place these days. That most, probably the vast majority, of the wars and conflicts currently existing involve islam in some manner. Most countries and governments are actually getting along fairly well, opting to hash out their differences through political means. If one looks at their globe or map and starts marking the existing conflicts and the political elements driving them, islam is involved in just about every one. Everyone else seems to be doing ok with each other. islam is consistently the problem child on the geopolitical playground.

As a convert to Islam from the Christian Catholic faith I can tell you that most people convert because they find in Islam a clear explanation of God, Jesus, and their reason for existence in this planet and the afterlife. There are in Islam clear guidelines for all aspects of life.

Christianity has explanations that breach logic and it is then dropped by most "Christians".

Most people who study Islam in an unbiased manner can see the logic in all the precepts.

Killing of civilians is prohibited in Islam, in the same way it is prohibited in Christianity and Judaism, and other religions too.

Please read a few books on history - all 3 Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) are pagan religions. Regarding God. This chap (also called Yahweh by the Jews, and Allah by the Muslims), is the biggest con artist in global history. At the time that the various prophets came (Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammad), that area in the Middle East was 8% of the population of the planet - the rest of the world (92%) were doing their own thing - not disturbed by the violent messages that Yahweh/God/Allah (same chap) was distributing to the people. Had the followers remaining in the Middle East, they would have undoubtedly killed each other - 3 pagan religions carrying an identical message of ethnocentrism and claiming superiority. That would have been ideal for the whole planet - i.e., total self-destruction of 3 bad religions!!! However, 2 of them chose to "go forth and multiply" - with disastrous consequences. One branch went into Asia and Africa, and the other branch went to Europe. The European pagan religion eventually proved to be superior in terms of technology, including warfare. Consequently, they embarked on an orgy of violence which lasted for several centuries. Ethnic cleansing, genocide, slavery, oppression, racism, colonialism and imperialism was perfected, and used in abundance. This orgy came to an end in the 20th century when insatiable greed caused major infighting resulting in WW-1 and WW-2 - around 200 million people were killed. The other major pagan religion has emerged from a few centuries of colonialism and is struggling to find its identity and self-confidence - that, of course, will happen over time. In the meantime, to complicate matters further, Pagan Religion No. 3 (which was content to wander around the planet for 20 centuries, making money and trading) suddenly discovered that Yahweh was a cosmic real estate agent. They started helping themselves generously to land belonging to Pagan Religion No. 1 and No. 2 - based entirely on statements purportedly made by Yahweh two dozen centuries ago - the first time this has ever happened in the history of the planet!!!! The irony is that in the same area that the 3 pagan religions were born, the "last colonial war" is now taking place. History has come full circle - all because of this 1 chap (God, Yahweh and Allah - same gent with various names)!!!!

Are there still people who sincerely believe that converting to Islam is a religious act? Those who convert just to be able to marry are anything but religious - they're pragmatists. The rest of them the converts are conquered by the Mohammedan ideology, hence their proclivity to engage in Islamic terrorism. Jihad is not stray Islam, it's essential Islam - and for ideological converts it comes first. The religious part is no more than accessory.
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Exactly like it was with communism. It's not in vogue now, Islam is the new ideological craze among wacko Westerners.

I agree - the 3 Abrahamic religions are quite absurd and violent - the Bible is the Rolls Royce in terms of violence and lust. Here are a few examples:-

Those committing buggery will die - homosexuals (those "without natural affection") and their supporters (those "that have pleasure in them") are "worthy of death" - - along with gossips, boasters, and disobedient children. Romans 1:31-32.

God will slaughter everyone by killing one third with plagues, one third with famines, and one third with wars. If any somehow survive, he'll send "evil beasts" to devour them. Finally, after he's done killing, he "will be comforted." Ezekiel 5:11-17.

In the largest single God-assisted massacre in the Bible, Asa, with God's help, kills one million Ethiopians. Chronicles 14:8-14.

Some of David's men kill Saul's son (by smiting him under the fifth rib, of course) and bring his head to David, thinking that he'll be pleased. But he wasn't. David has the assassins killed, their hands and feet chopped off, and their bodies hung up (for decorations?) over the pool in Hebron. Samuel 4:6-7.

Really Big Penises. One of the sister (Aholibah) had lovers "whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses." Ezekiel 23:20.

Adonijah (Solomon's half-brother) sends Bathsheba (Solomon's mother) to ask King Solomon to let Adonijah have sex with his David's concubine Abishag. But Solomon had him murdered instead. Kings 2:13-25.

After taking in a traveling Levite, the host offers his virgin daughter and his guest's concubine to a mob of perverts (who want to have sex with his guest). The mob refuses the daughter, but accepts the concubine and they "abuse her all night." The next morning she crawls back to the doorstep and dies. The Levite puts her dead body on an ass and takes her home. Then he chops her body up into twelve pieces and sends them to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Judges 19:22-30.

If a man marries, then decides that he hates his wife, he can claim she wasn't a virgin when they were married. If her father can't produce the "tokens of her virginity" (bloody sheets), then the woman is to be stoned to death at her father's doorstep. Deuteronomy 22:13-21.

If you "lie" with your wife and your mother-in-law (now that sounds fun!), all three of your must be burned to death. Leviticus 20:14.

God decides to kill Moses because his son had not yet been circumcised. Luckily for Moses, his Egyptian wife Zipporah "took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he [God] let him go." This story shows the importance of penises to God, and his hatred of foreskins. Exodus 4:24.

Lot and his daughters camp out in a cave for a while. The daughters get their "just and righteous" father drunk, and have sexual intercourse with him, and each conceives and bears a son (wouldn't you know it!). Just another wholesome family values Bible story. Genesis 19:30-38.

The issue is that is God of the 3 Abrahamic religions really a God or just a pagan belief. The Middle East was 8% of global population at that time. Where was God for 92% of the people of the planet?? It appears that the believers of these 3 Abrahamic religions are stuck in a cycle of hate. Was it God's intention?? Why does he not send another prophet to clarify matters on earth?? How can pagan beliefs persist in the 21st century when science insists on "verifiable truths" and not myths????

"These people will face man's and God's justice in this world and the hereafter" - your comment.

In his book, God: An Itinerary, Régis Debray "illuminates just how deeply the Judeo-Christian God – unlike Allah – has been imbricated within capitalism and the nation-state. Certainly, in America, where every dollar bill proclaims the nation’s trust in God, where schoolchildren pledge allegiance each morning to God and the United States, where Jesus rules the patriotic lives of tens of millions, and where the Ten Commandments are engraved in stone in courthouses and state buildings throughout the land, belief in the Almighty and the ongoing maintenance of American national identity are inseparable. Nowhere is this more evident and dangerous than in the fusion of evangelical Christianity and extreme-right imperialism that now controls the levers of American power. In thrall to the Bible and convinced once again of its Manifest Destiny, American exceptionalism continues to remake the world in its own image. The Jewish claim to be chosen by Yahweh, appropriated by the Puritan founders, ends up as America’s inevitable – God-ordained – global mission."

Could there is a link between the genocides of the OT and the ethnic cleansing and mass slaughter of the Indians by the founding fathers of America??

Most world religions make no sense and are packed with contradictions (some passages clearly condemn killing, while others celebrate it, etc.) and crazy myths (virgin births, talking snakes, angels, demons, supernatural spirits, etc.) It's a wonder more fundamentalist don't snap under the strain of cognitive dissonance and having to believe in pure balderdash.

While I am not a Muslim (I am agnostic), I think that various people on this column (including you) have become very irrational about Islam. The reality is that all 3 Abrahamic religions are deeply flawed. Judaism was the first, followed by Christianity and Islam. Judaism followed a different path from
the other two - it preferred to remain "exclusive" and were content to settle as a minority in countries where they could trade in goods or money - hence,
the Shylock syndrome. That is why globally you can see magnificent architecture in Christian countries (e.g., Rome), in Muslim countries (e.g., Samarkand), and, of course in China (Confucian) - but, there is no such thing as great Jewish architecture. Christianity and Islam chose a totallydifferent path - i.e., conversion and geographical expansion, and at the "borders" of these expansions there were major wars. Those are the ones that you are referring to. Christianity (unlike Islam) resorted to colonialism on a global scale. The method used in South and North America was genocide and
ethnic cleansing. In Asia, both religions had to compromise with each other because of the roughly equal "balance of power". Overall, the history of all
3 religions is very violent and intolerant, with Christianity being the most violent and least tolerant. The experience of the Jews in Christian countries historically is a good example.

While both Christianity and Islam were evangelical (in historical terms), there is a considerable difference. Ethnic cleansing and genocide was done by Christianity on a monumental scale - e.g., by the Spanish (in South America) and the British (in North America). By those standards, Islam is the more peaceful of the 2 religions. On balance, however, I cannot bring myself to believe in any religion - perhaps, Buddhism (it is the most peaceful, historically speaking).

Your decision to leave the catholic faith is commendable - however, getting back into an Abrahamic religion is like going from the frying pan into the fire. Having said that, I concede that the catholic faith is much more violent than Islam. Here are a few examples of catholic intolerance:

"Anyone who attempts to construe a personal view of God which conflicts with Church dogma must be burned without pity."

- Pope Innocent III

"The Inquisition was an ecclesiastical court and process of the Roman Catholic Church setup for the purpose towards the discovery and punishment of heresy which wielded immense power and brutality in medieval and early modern times. The Inquisitions function was principally assembled to repress all heretics of rights, depriving them of their estate and assets which became subject to the ownership of the Catholic treasury, with each relentlessly sought to destroy anyone who spoke, or even thought differently to the Catholic Church. This system for close to over six centuries became the legal framework throughout most of Europe that orchestrated one of the most confound religious orders in the course of mankind."

In the sixteenth century, Cardinal Giovanni Caraffa, who later became the pope himself, also held a stern and gloomy view of moral rectitude for heretics. In 1542, he was appointed by pope Paul III to administer the Inquisition.

The manuscript life of Caraffa gives the following rules drawn up by Caraffa himself:

"Firstly when the faith is in question, there must be no delay; but at the slightest suspicion, rigorous measures must be resorted to with all speed. Secondly, no consideration is to be shown to any prince or prelate, however high his station. Thirdly, extreme severity is rather to be exercised against those who attempt to shield themselves under the protection of any potentate, and fourthly, no man must lower himself by showing toleration toward heretics of any kind."

"In 1252, Pope Innocent IV officially authorized the creation of the horrifying Inquisition torture chambers. It also included anew perpetual imprisonment or death at the stake without the bishops consent. Acquittal of the accused was now virtually impossible. Thus, with a license granted by the pope himself, Inquisitors were free to explore the depths of horror and cruelty. Dressed as black-robed fiends with black cowls over their heads, Inquisitors could extract confessions from just about anyone. The Inquisition invented every conceivable devise to inflict pain by slowly dismembering and dislocating the body.

Many of the devices were inscribed with the motto "Glory be only to God." Bernardus Guidonis, the Inquisitor in Toulouse instructed the layman as to never argue with the unbeliever, but as to "thrust his sword into the man's belly as far as it will go." George Ryley Scott describes how the inquisitors, gorged with their inhumanity, and developed a degree of callousness rarely rivaled in the annals of civilization, with the ecclesiastical authorities condemning every faith outside of Christianity as demonic."

"In 1478, the Spanish Inquisition was established with the papal approval of Pope Sixtus IV. The reform and extension of the ancient tribunal which had existed from the thirteenth century was mainly to discover and eliminate Jews and Muslims secretly taking up their beliefs in private.

The conduct of this holy office greatly weakened the power and diminished the population of Spain. It was considered the most deadliest and notorious of all Inquisitions, as firstly being, it was the most highly organized and secondly, it was far more exposed and open with the death penalty than that of the papal Inquisition. This holy office became veiled by secrecy, unhesitatingly kept back, falsified, concealed, and forged the reports of thousands of trials.

The first two Inquisitors in the districts of Seville were appointed in 1480 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to round up the most wealthiest heretics; the reason for this, was that the property of those accused, were shared equally between the Catholic throne and the Dominicans."

Young males are rebellious and unconventional.
And alienated and confused.
They can be brainwashed most easily.
Promise them never ending sex and orgies...in the next life.
As well as riches, mansions and smorgasboards.
And they will die for you.

Teenagers are a never ending resource pool for Jihad.

Like Madison Avenue, Muhummad knew: Sex sells.

No put on your suicide belt, some cologne, and let's get some Virgins!